


As He Slips Away

by Noxturnal09



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: "I'd rather it have been me", AU, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Drama, Evil Lloyd, F/M, Family, Feels, Flashbacks, Garmadon has no idea, Garmadon is stubborn, Major character death - Freeform, Ninjago, Role Reversal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2020-06-02 11:39:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19440718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noxturnal09/pseuds/Noxturnal09
Summary: What if Lloyd was bitten by the Great Devourer, and he becomes the dark lord instead of his father? Ties are cut, lives are lost and relationships are put to the test. Can Lloyd be saved from the darkness and fulfill his role as the Green Ninja before all of Ninjago falls?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I've had an idea for a story that I've been wanting to write for a long time but haven't been able to. I'm currently working on a book that I'm publishing and I'm also in college, so lately that's been eating up most of my free time. But I figured that if I kept putting this story off for later, then "later" will never come, so here it is!  
> Also, this is my first AO story. Let me know what you think! Comments are appreciated. <3

Prologue 

Year of the First Spinjitsu Master 

Garmadon opened his eyes. 

His arms were outstretched to the sides, one leg crossed, the other standing straight. He was perfectly balanced on a standing stick. His brother Wu was in the same position beside him, and his father standing before them. All were deep in meditation. Except for Garmadon. 

“What troubles you, my son?” The First Spinjitsu Master opened his eyes and caught Garmadon staring at the white disc of the sun through the overcast sky. “Morning meditations are meant to clear your mind, yet I sense yours is filled with chaos.” The First Spinjitsu Master was a silhouette against the lantern light spilling out from the monastery behind him. 

Garmadon sighed, causing Wu to unclose his eyes and watch him with interest. 

“Father, I...” 

“Speak to me, son.” 

“It’s... It’s the visions. I wake up in cold sweat every night.” 

“The visions with the snake?” 

“And the green light.” Garrmadon’s voice adopted a low undertone, his eyes growing distant as the memories took hold of him. “I fear they may be bad omens.” 

“Hm.” The First Spinjitsu Master stroked his beard. “There are few things worse than being blind.” 

Garmadon frowned. His father’s wisdom always began with the strangest words. “And one of those things is having sight without vision. You must act upon your fears to destroy them. But I cannot help you understand your visions. That is a journey for your soul alone.” 

Garmadon ran his teeth together. It wasn’t the contact with others that caused his emotions to rise like a typhoon. It was the pandemonium and discord within his own mind. 

The First Spinjitsu Master leaped down from the stick that held him five feet above the ground. “Perhaps today will be spent away from training. Your mind must not be cluttered if you are to find the meaning within the messages stirring inside you.” 

The First Spinjitsu Master turned away and walked back into the monastery, seizing a cup of tea before the doors shut behind him. He trusted his sons would remain within the monastery walls. 

“Brother, let’s go!” Wu picked up two wooden swords, tossing the second one to Garmadon while picking up a shield and throwing it at him as well. Garmadon flinched away. “Wu!” 

Wu froze. “...Sorry, brother.” 

“What, does it look like I have four arms?” 

Wu cast his gaze to the ground, and Garmadon pinched the bridge of his nose. Wu was always the quiet and sensitive one whenever he did something wrong. Garmadon learned from his mistakes and moved on, despite the thousand voices in his head. 

“Alright. Let us play.” 

Wu’s frown instantly rose into a smile, light filling his eyes. He raised his sword, roaring like a dragon. Garmadon raised his shield, deflecting his sloppy attacks. Garmadon laughed as he tossed his brother’s sword aside with the shield. Enraged, Wu kicked Garmadon’s sword out of his hands, and it flew over the monastery walls. They heard it land in the tall grass on the other side with a _thush_. 

Garmadon’s hands dropped to his sides. “Great. Now we only have one sword.” 

Wu raised a fist, and Garmadon flinched, expecting a punch. Instead, Wu wanted to play a silly game he’d invented called Rock Paper Scissors. Garmadon thought it was utterly pointless. 

“No, Wu.” Garmadon said sternly, his eyes remaining still. “We’re going to climb over the wall and get the sword.” 

Wu cast a weary glance at the monastery doors their father had disappeared behind. He turned back to his brother with fear in his eyes. “I don’t want to upset father.” 

Garmadon shut his eyes and breathed in. “Wu, listen. We’re going to venture beyond the walls in the future. Never put off tomorrow what can be done today. Are you coming with me, or not?” 

Wu remained frozen. Garmadon’s nostrils flared. “Fine.” He turned away, braced himself, and leaped up to catch the peak of the wall. He pulled himself up, swung his legs over, and dropped down. The tall grass brushed against his waist as he traveled through the stalks, his eyes searching for the fallen sword. 

There. 

Beside the brush. 

He knelt on one knee, his hand reaching forward to pick it up. Then, a low hissing, and a pair of purple eyes watched him from the darkness of the bush. The snake reared its elongated body, purple venom dripping from its teeth. Garmadon froze, utterly petrified. 

Then, a shadow swooped over him. He glanced behind him, his father’s silhouette against the early morning sun. He raised his stick, smacking the snake away from his son. The snake gave a disgusting hiss, then slithered away into the darkness. 

“Come, son.” His father offered his hand. “You’re going to be okay.” 


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 

“Father, this isn’t going to make your sickness any better,” Garmadon crossed his arms as he watched his father meditate beneath the Weeping Willow near their temple. “It’s so cold that even the trees have shed their leaves. What is the point of this?” 

Wu remained sitting beside their father, silent, observing. 

The First Spinjitsu Master tilted his head back and breathed deeply. When he opened his eyes, the starlight reflected off their surface. “My time draws short. I wish to meet my fate surrounded by the stars I have created. Please, son. Sit with me.” 

Garmadon’s eyebrows creased together. He never liked it when his father acted stubborn like this. Yet, he knew the day would come when he would laugh at all the moments his father acted ridiculous, and then proved his son wrong moments later. He wouldn’t get another chance. 

A lump in his throat, he sat cross-legged across from his father, his gaze traveling between him and Wu. Aside from his anger, his emotions were not very decipherable on the surface. But the shattered tone in his next words revealed just how he was falling apart from within. “Please don’t go, father.” 

The First Spinjitsu Master gave his sons a deep smile of unspoken emotion. “You are both coming of age. It is time you continue your life journeys on your own. But remember--my guidance will always await you in the stars. I will be there, even when you can’t see me.” 

His face scrunched, and a hand flew to his chest where he gripped his robes, breathing deeply. 

Panic rushed through Wu before their father’s breathing leveled out again. He grimaced, his eyes cast downwards. His fingers tightened around his bamboo staff as he placed it in his lap. “My sons. Before I leave, there is something I must tell you.” 

Wu and Garmadon scooted closer.

“A great darkness is coming. I have seen it. It will not arrive soon, but it _will_ arrive.” 

Garmadon’s eyes narrowed. “A darkness?” 

“Much like you, my son, I have seen it in visions. If this darkness is allowed to manifest, the world I have created will be consumed in everlasting nothingness.” 

“We will not let that happen,” Wu glanced at his brother and nodded. “We will do everything in our power to stop it.” 

The First Spinjitsu Master shook his head solemnly. “I merely deliver this message to you as a warning, for it is not your destiny to stop the darkness.” He bowed his head, his straw hat masking his face. “A chosen one will rise to destroy the coming threat. A Green Ninja.” 

Garmadon’s eyes widened. The flashes of green light in his visions stormed through his memories. “A Green Ninja... Father, do you think this is related to my visions?” 

Wu awaited for an answer. 

Garmadon frowned. “Father?” 

With a dull _clank_ , the First Spinjitsu Master’s staff rolled out of his limp grip. 

Wu scrambled to his feet and stared. 

A cold wind rushed past them. 

One Year Later 

“Lloyd.” Misako’s gaze held the eyes of the child in her arms. The child with green eyes, illuminated yellow by the candlelight of their temple’s wooden bedroom. Garmadon held the child as well, his head resting on Misako’s shoulder. 

“Yes,” He agreed, his voice adopting a low undertone. “His name will be Lloyd.” 

The baby gave a silent yawn, still shaking away the layers of sleep. 

Garmadon loved his child. He loved him before he came into the world of Ninjago. But his eyes. 

His green eyes. 

His father didn’t have them, and neither did Wu or Garmadon. His dreams and visions haunted him like a plague whenever he was alone. 

Ever since his run-in with the serpent that would never stop growing, all that remained in Garmadon’s mind was the green light. That green light. It filled his dreams, his mind, blinding his eyes whenever he was pulled from deep slumber. 

Perhaps it had nothing to do with his son. 

Perhaps it did. 

But even after his son was born, his visions never faded away. 

What did this all mean... 

“Garmadon?” Misako looked up from the eyes of their son to gaze at her husband with concern, half her face obscured in shadow, the other illuminated in the soft glow of the candle lighting up the room. 

Garmadon blinked, returning to the moment. He’d never told Misako about the visions he had as a boy growing up. Perhaps he thought they were meaningless, just a cruel overused trick his mind would play on him. Perhaps he didn’t want his wife to carry the burden of a lifetime of bad omens. 

It had been a year since his father died, and Ninjago was left in the hands of his two sons. There were moments when Garmadon wished his father could’ve met his son. Wished he could’ve heard his words of wisdom whenever his mind grew heavy with questions about his visions. But his only answer remained the same. _I cannot help you understand your visions. That is a journey for your soul alone._

Garmadon gave his wife a smile. “It’s been a week. The others are waiting outside. Is it time they finally met him?” 

Misako gave a nod of approval, and Garmadon slipped his arms around his son, holding him against his chest as Misako tugged at the sliding wooden doors leading outside their room. 

Against the influx of the rising sun, Wu and his ninja awaited. 

“His name is Lloyd Garmadon,” Garmadon announced, but not loud enough to startle his son. “And he will be your brother.” 


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lloyd pummels through childhood

Chapter 2

He was five. Kai threw a swift side kick, and Lloyd tumbled to the ground in tears. Cole grabbed his arms and tugged him to his feet. “Come on, Lloyd! You can do it!” He bunched Lloyd’s fingers into fists. “Fists up. Protect your face.”

He was ten. Zane’s internal computer was calculating Lloyd’s movements as he delivered a series of punches and kicks. Zane blocked the movements until Lloyd doubled over, shoulders rising and falling with each breath. “You came so close to breaking Jay's record. You had two more minutes to go.

Lloyd sat on the floor. “I can’t do this! I’ve been training all week and I still can’t get it!”

Jay  seized his arms, pulling him back into a standing position. “Hey! You came closer to a full twenty minutes than I did at your age!”

Zane  knelt down so they were both eye-level. “Don’t give up, Lloyd.”

He was twelve. The bounty swayed and shuttered in the storm, the training equipment sliding across the deck. Poles stuck up from the floor, and Lloyd flew across them, leaping from one pole to the other on his hands and bare feet. Master Wu swung at him with his staff, and Lloyd twisted and flipped through the air like a snake, dodging each attack with ease. Rainwater descended down his face like tears, his expression set in  determination .

“To defeat your enemy, you must forget and be mindful of your surroundings at the same time.” Wu swung his staff low, and Lloyd leaped in the air to avoid it, landing on his palms on the poles. One of his hands slipped on the wet surface. His arms flew out to grab another pole, and he quickly hauled himself up just as Wu made another swing.

He was fourteen. The golden candlelight flickered across his face, casting shadows over his shut eyes. He was meditating in the monastery, his father across from him. “To unlock your true potential, you must explore the innermost workings of your mind and soul. Find harmony between the two. Understand your strengths. Your weaknesses. Respect them. And then push past them.”

He was sixteen. “HAH! I’ve  _ destroyed _ you!” Lloyd threw his hands into the air, utterly victorious.

“WHAT?!” Jay stared at Lloyd’s name having taken his place on the high score board. He stared until the TV’s light burned his eyes. “My... My high score.” He threw the remote to the floor. “No fair! First you beat my  twenty minute training score, now my game?!”

Lloyd extended his hands, as if showing off, heading backwards to the door. “What can I say?” He tossed his remote back to Jay. “Training pays off.”

Master Wu raised his head in  acknowledgment from outside the room. He and his brother had been watching Lloyd’s training closely for the past three years, when it became apparent that he would grow stronger than the rest of the ninja.

Garmadon crossed his arms, nodding silently. They remained at a distance from Lloyd, following him outside the Destiny’s Bounty to the training area. They watched as Lloyd tore through training without any guidance, eventually surpassing the rest of the boys.

Kai scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Show-off.”

Eventually, everyone surrounded Lloyd once he’d finished his daily training.

“Looks like someone’s training to be the legendary Green Ninja,” Cole laughed.

Lloyd blinked. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, come  _ on _ , Lloyd! You’re the best of all of us!” Kai pounded a slap on Lloyd’s upper back. Lloyd instantly caught his wrist, thinking he was throwing a punch.

Master Wu ran his fingers through his beard. “You’ve come a long way over the years. And you possess all the qualities that the Green Ninja would have. Strength, leadership, selflessness, loyalty...”

Garmadon placed a hand on his son’s shoulder. “We believe you’re ready to lead this team.” He glanced up at the rest of the ninja. “All of us. And I don’t think we’d rather have anyone else lead us.”

Lloyd’s brows creased together. He glanced down at his hands, imagining the green  gi cloaking him. “I don’t... I never imagined myself as the Green Ninja. I don’t even have any elemental powers.”

“But you train harder than the rest of us,” Kai stepped forward. “Even with our powers, you still beat us in every fight.”

“The true strength of a ninja comes in  the reliance of his mind and body,” Wu smiled beneath his beard. “Powers are a bonus.”

“So... what,” Lloyd looked hesitant beneath the expectant gazes surrounding him. This was all too sudden. “Do I just put on the green  gi and suddenly everyone calls me Green Ninja?”

“You must unlock your true potential,”  Garmadon said. “Tomorrow, we will journey to one of our father’s temples. The temple where Wu and I first unlocked our own true potentials. To become the Green Ninja, you must unlock your own and find inner peace. If any place is best to do this, it is in the temple where Wu and I were raised.”

Garmadon clenched his jaw. The visions that haunted his sleep had lessened in intensity as he’d grown older, but he couldn’t deny the fact he was anxious about this. The darkness. The green light. His father’s words.

As his son advanced over the years, he grew more and more certain that his son was going to be part of whatever his father had tried to warn them about. Now, it was inevitable.

Lloyd was going to be the Green Ninja.

And the darkness was coming.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 

Lloyd was high above the city of Ninjago, his body suspended by invisible forces, gravity tugging at his feet. Dark clouds enveloped the city like a predator’s talons gripping it’s prey. Structures were torn from their foundations, pieces of the city fractured and swirling in the air around him. Buildings and skyscrapers passed through one another, colliding in geometric, spiraling patterns. Lloyd’s head was tilted back, eyes alight with purple fire, enfolded in utter chaos. His scream was everywhere. In the air, in the darkness, in the underground dwellings of the Serpentine. 

_Where are the Serpentine?_

Garmadon tried to reach for his son, but his arms and legs might as well have been made of stone. The shadows wouldn’t let him move. He shut his eyes, trying to will the images away from him, but he wasn’t in control. 

_Why aren’t I in control?_

“Lloyd...!” The desperation in his voice seemed to be the only thing that could reach him. 

_Why can’t I reach him?_

When he opened his eyes again, he saw the blurry visage of Lloyd through the burning tears. His face was passive, a faraway look in his eyes. His eyes were a fiery purple, and each time he blinked, there was nothing in them but an endless void. 

“ _Father_ ,” Lloyd’s voice echoed in his mind, wounded and cracked, as if his soul were undergoing an eternal battle. “ _Help me_...” 

“Lloyd!” Garmadon’s voice caught in a choke as he pulled himself upright in his bed, his forehead slamming against the top bunker. “... Ow.” 

On the bunk above him, Misako stirred. “Mmm... Garmadon?” 

Garmadon let out a pent-up breath, collapsing back into his pillow, arm covering his eyes. “Misako. I’m sorry. Did I wake you?” 

“Only for the seventh day in a row,” Misako dropped from her top bunk, landing silently on her feet. She slipped into her husband’s bed, dragging the covers with her that he’d thrashed onto the floor. The beds on the Bounty were small, only enough for one person, but Misako was much thinner than Garmadon, so she easily fit in his arms. “You’ve been worried too much about our son lately. He’s going to be fine. He’s strong and dedicated enough to become the Green Ninja, just as everyone agreed.” 

Misako had assumed his nightmares were recent. And in a way, she’d been right, despite the fact that the visions had visited him multiple times throughout his life. 

Garmadon held his wife close, feeling something familiar and precious to him as the effects of the nightmare faded. “Yes. You’re right. But I just can’t help but feel...” 

He didn’t want to cause any unnecessary panic. Perhaps he _was_ overthinking things. Perhaps he’d been overthinking the visions his entire life, and that was why they’d kept revisiting him. Perhaps they meant something, and even if he told everyone, there would be nothing they would do. 

Perhaps the coming darkness had to do with Garmadon himself. What if that was why the visions kept visiting _him_ , and not his son? 

When Garmadon didn’t finish his sentence, Misako held his face. “It’s the uncertainty of the future that scares us sometimes. Never truly having control over what will happen. But our son will be great. With his strength and loyalty to his family, he will lead us to a future free of darkness and discord.” She met his gaze and smiled. “We raised Ninjago’s savior.” 

Garmadon smiled back, absorbing her words, wanting to believe it so bad. 

But the visions had a much stronger hold on him. 

Lloyd was with Wu in the First Spinjitsu Master’s home in the high mountains, while the rest of the team were visiting a nearby village on the Destiny’s Bounty. 

After a beat, Misako shifted, sitting upright and stretching. “Lloyd’s not far. If anything happens to us, he can reach us.” 

It wasn’t themselves Garmadon was worried about. 

The two-story temple stood perched near the edge of a miles-long cliff, overlooking a vast lake below. Tall hills peaked over the white mist stretched out across the ground. 

Surrounding three-quarters of the temple was a towering gray stone wall, aged with greenery, moss and vines crawling up it’s surface. The air smelled of chrysanthemums, magnolia and incense. The cold breeze rising from the landscape below played pacifying music. 

Lloyd and Wu were meditating silently on the edge of the cliff. Behind them, the gates of the temple’s walls were open, moving with small creaks in the wind. 

Wu was silent, breathing slowly. 

Lloyd was struggling. Restless. Trying to find that “pinnacle” that Wu had kept talking about. The moment when you reach true understanding. The moment you find your inner peace, and unlock your true potential. 

The words repeated themselves in his mind until they lost their meaning. 

Eventually, Lloyd just stubbornly sat in silence. Not thinking. Just staring into the darkness behind his closed eyes. 

Staring. 

At the darkness. 

At the grass. 

Suddenly, he was moving through the ground, edges of his vision gyrating with different colors. His body long and thin, slithering through the overgrown plants. Nature’s garden. 

The temple’s walls towered over him, the sunlight blinding. 

Then, he saw himself. 

As if he were outside of his own body, watching himself meditate from a lower perspective. 

He saw golden light moving through his body, radiating from his center, moving through his veins like golden blood. 

Such pureness. 

Hungry. 

Devourer. 

Lloyd’s eyes shot open and he screamed. 

His arm burned with cold fire. He glanced down. A black snake had it’s fangs buried in his flesh through his white gi. Black and red blood bloomed across the fabric like a storm cloud materializing in a pure sky. 

Wu’s eyes flew open, and his gaze darted everywhere, trying to come to his surroundings as if waking from a dream. When he turned to face Lloyd, it was too late. 

He had been bitten by the snake that would never stop growing. 

The creature his father had warned him about. 

He should’ve remembered. Remembered the dangers that awaited them in their first homes. 

“No!” He swung his staff at the snake, but his remained buried in his arm, holding the boy hostage. 

Lloyd’s face was frozen, his upper lip quivering. He looked to be in shock. 

“Lloyd!” Wu screamed. His eyes fell on the device laying in the tall wildgrass. Lloyd’s earpiece. The device that connected him to the bounty. Acting quickly, he seized it and buried it in his fist until he hit the emergency button. 

“ _Submit to the darkness_ ,” A voice permeated through the air as the snake’s eyes glowed violet. 

Suddenly, Lloyd’s free arm flew out, grabbing the snake by the neck and squeezing. 

“ _Submit_!” The voice grew louder. 

Lloyd’s lips moved as he spoke in a tone an octave deeper than his own. “I don’t submit to the darkness.” 

Darkness crawled through his veins, inching beneath his skin, extending from the area where the snake had it’s teeth sunk in. 

Lloyd’s eyes lost their color. He squeezed until he heard a satisfying _crack_ from the snake’s neck, and he tossed the limp creature aside. “Darkness submits to _me_.” 

Lloyd rose to his feet. The wind stoped moving around them, and everything stood still. 

Wu couldn’t move. “Lloyd...?” 

His eyes. He’d never seen anything like it before. Darkened colors swirled in them like oil and paint in water. But there was still a fading ring of light around where his pupils would’ve been. A light resisting. 

“Wu...” He spoke with two voices. His own, and one Wu didn’t recognize. “I can’t... breathe...” 

A flash of purple light, and Lloyd collapsed into the grass beside the dead snake. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for commenting! I wasn't expecting this story to get noticed. Feeling much more inspired to write now. More to come!


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I'd rather it have been me!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An "eh" chapter since it's been a while and I wanted to release sOMETHING in the middle of midterms. It gets more interesting from here on, I promise lol

Lloyd was delirious, murmuring incomprehensible words beneath his breath, his skin feverish and his hands growing cold as darkness inched across his veins. He lay across a cushioned table which instantly became drenched in sweat. His fingers curled into the pillows until his knuckles turned white. Misako held his hand, but it was as though her presence couldn’t reach him.

The ninja paced the length of the interior of the Bounty, whispered concerns rising amongst them.

Garmadon stood at an arm’s length away from his son , a black cloud of apprehension looming over him. His father’s words echoed through him, but in the moment, they sounded more like taunts than aged wisdom.  _ Every event in the future is written someway, somehow. Nothing can change or stop it.  _ The first time his father said this,  Garmadon had flown his kite over the cliff beside the monastery, and lost grip of the string. If he had chosen to fly it somewhere else, or on another day, he would’ve lost it in some other way.

But his  _ son _ .

“There had to have been some way I could’ve stopped this.” He didn’t realize he’d spoken the words aloud until his brother responded, “If it wasn’t Lloyd who was bitten, it could have been someone else.”

“I’d rather it  have been me!”  Garmadon shouted, then shut his eyes and took a breath, his voice lowering an octave. “Brother, please tell me you have something that can help him.”

Wu reached into the crate he’d taken with him from the monastery below, producing partially melted candles and jars of crushed herbs. “All I have are remedies to help with the fever. But this darkness...” Wu held his wrist,  silently watching  the oily black liquid as it boiled through his veins like an infection. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“There has to be  _ something _ !”

“We’re working on it,” Nya spoke up from the other side of the room. Beside her, Zane had his system connected to machinery and computers. They both stood in front of an examination table, it’s surface glowing with sharp light. The snake lay sprawled out on the table. Zane was running diagnostics on the creature while Nya took samples. “The...  _ darkness _ \--” She didn’t know what else to call it “--definitely came from the snake. Weird thing is, I’m not seeing any cellular decay, and the invasive molecules are acting more like a host of  commensalism  symbiosis .”

Silence settled through the bounty.

“ Uhh , English, Nya?” Jay spoke up.

Nya relinquished a sigh. “The snake’s venom isn’t harming him. It’s... changing him.”

Zane spoke up. “My sensors indicate this creature is ancient, possibly as old as the Serpentine.”

Kai’s gaze moved from the snake back to Lloyd, who’s hallucinations seemed to be getting stronger. “Do you think they’ll have some kind of cure for this?”

Wu shook his head. “If Zane is correct, then... It is confirmed. Lloyd has been bitten by the Great Devourer. The snake that would always consume, and never stop growing. Until Lloyd--” He frowned, averting his gaze. He couldn’t bring himself to say it. The memory of Lloyd’s hand tightening around the snake until  it’s vertebrae snapped was fresh in his mind. “I’m afraid... There is nothing we can do for him.”

“ _ But what about the Serpentine _ ?” Cole pressed. “If that  _ thing _ has been around as long as they have, then shouldn’t--”

“There is no cure because there is only  _ one _ Great Devourer!”  Garmadon’s fist collided with the wall. “If my father could’ve found a way to rid Ninjago of this creature on that day, he would have!”

His father’s warnings resounded through his mind. And suddenly, his arms fell to his sides, and he blinked in understanding. He met Wu’s gaze. “Before father left, he warned us. Of a great darkness approaching.”

Wu lowered his gaze, the front of his bamboo hat  sheilding his eyes. “ _ A chosen one will rise to destroy the coming threat. A Green Ninja _ .”

All gazes in the room returned to Lloyd. Silence. Then, Kai said with apprehension, “But... If Lloyd isn’t destined to be the Green Ninja, then... who is?”

“That’s not important right now,” Cole stepped closer to Lloyd, setting up the healing incense twice as fast.

“Dad...” Lloyd rasped through the murmurs, and  Garmadon clutched his hand, jolting in surprise at how cold it was. “Lloyd?”

Cole struggled to keep his voice at an even level. “Lloyd’s dying. Or changing. Or who knows what. We have to focus on saving him!”

“But what if Sensei’s right? What if there  _ is _ no saving him?”

Lloyd’s eyes shot  open, the green replaced with an endless blackness. He  hand flew out, seizing Wu’s throat. The edges of Lloyd’s mouth tipped up as he stared at  Garmadon , but his eyes were empty. Dark. “The red one is correct. There  _ is _ so saving me.”


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no see! Here's another chapter. Feel free to check out my other works as well!

Chapter 5

His eyes were swirling inky black holes , and each time he blinked, wisps of violet flames flickered in them. He was suspended in the air, held afloat by purple flames and black smoke.  A chuckle rumbled low and deep in his chest , and a smile was plastered on his face, almost as if enjoying the darkness that surrounded him.

“The red one is correct. There  _ is _ no saving me.”

Wu hung limp in his grip, trying not to struggle, to show Lloyd that he had true power over them, even though he had. His fingers pried at Lloyd’s fingers, but his grip never wavered. His sudden influx of strength must’ve been coming from the cloud of darkness surrounding him.

“Lloyd...”  Garmadon’s voice faltered in his shock and sadness as he stared at his son, who had become so different than the one he used to know.

Lloyd regarded Garmadon as if he were an ant beneath his feet. “Father.”

“Let him go, Lloyd!” Kai drew his  katana but didn’t aim it at Lloyd. He wasn’t ready  to hurt Lloyd. Not like this. Not when he was forced to . “Don’t make us take you down!”

The other ninja didn’t draw their weapons.

Lloyd smiled again, and the darkness seemed to intensify, feeding his hunger. His grip on Wu’s throat intensified.

“He can’t hear you,” Nya breathed, knowing the circumstances, but still not wanting to sit around and do nothing while Wu suffered. “We need a Plan B!”

“Forget this, we  _ are _ the Plan B!” With a cry, he lunged at Lloyd with his sword. “ _ Let Sensei go _ !”

With his free hand, Lloyd waved at the air in front of Kai. Before the katana could touch his skin, he felt an invisible fist smash into the side of his ribcage, throwing him off balance. He felt the wall of the bounty hit his shoulder and he collapsed to the floor. He inhaled sharply, feeling an ache in his ribs. Lloyd threw his arms out again, binding him in darkness like shackles. He struggled and writhed against them, screaming in outrage.

Lloyd turned to the rest of the ninja with emptiness in his eyes, making a  _ come hither _ gesture with his fingers.

Cole ground his teeth and unsheathed his scythe. “That’s it! Everyone, attack and save Sensei!”

The battle that ensued could hardly be called that. Lloyd swatted the ninja away as if they were nuisance flies, laughing as he did so.

One by one, Lloyd took the ninja down until they lay defeated at his feet. Wu remained tightened in his grip, the light slowly fading from his eyes.

Garmadon was the last one remaining standing. He curled his fingers into fists of stone until his knuckles turned white. “I will not fight my son.”

Lloyd’s eyes darkened. “Then you will die with the rest of Ninjago.”

Lloyd turned his head to glance past the bounty exit, at the peaks of the towering buildings of Ninjago in the distance.  Garmadon’s heart pounded. He could already imagine the screams upon such a dark force being unleashed upon the people.

Lloyd turned his head to look back at his  father, and spoke in a voice that was nowhere close to his own. It was a dark and twisted version of the voice he used to have, and it made  Garmadon’s he art plummet in dread . “I will not be followed.”

It happened too fast for Garmadon to register.

Lloyd threw his arm out, and suddenly Wu was tossed through the wall of the bounty, rolling until his body stopped outside. Lloyd swirled his hands together, the darkness manifesting in the center of his chest, whispering around his fingertips. He launched the ball of darkness at Wu , and he was shrouded in the crackling and popping shadows.

Garmadon’s heart shattered. “ _ NO _ !”

He ran past Lloyd to his brother, dropping to his knees before the mass of writhing shadows. Lloyd laughed lowly at the sight before strolling nonchalantly towards the edge of the bounty, leaping off into the depths below.

As soon as Lloyd was gone, the shadows surrounding Wu and binding Kai dissipated.

Kai filled his lungs with air as soon as the bindings faded. He sat upright and coughed, staring in disbelief at his fallen brothers and sisters.  _ Lloyd... did this? _

He rose to his feet, only to falter halfway at a sudden striking pain that lit up his right ankle. He collapsed to his knees and gripped his ribcage, grinding his teeth together. When he glanced up again, he noticed Garmadon kneeling beside a limp body outside the b ounty. He recognized the white  gi . Sensei Wu.

Uttering a noise of determination, he forced himself to rise to his feet  and run towards the two brothers, past the fallen ninja.

Jay stirred from his unconsciousness, staring at the scene through the blurry haze in his vision.

Soon, all the ninja were conscious again, surrounding Garmadon and Wu.

Zane felt his system lag for a split second as he stared. “....Sensei?”

Wu didn’t respond. His skin was pale , his breathing stilled, his eyes closed as if he were asleep.

Garmadon had closed them.

He knelt beside his fallen brother, fingers shaking as they rested on his knees, shoulders shaking as his breath trembled. His brother was dead because of him. Because he refused to fight against his own son.

Nya raised a hand to cover her mouth. “No...”

Silence settled over the ninja.

Kai unleashed a  broken  yell, launching a punch against the bounty’s fractured wall. “NO! LLOOOOYD!”

Garmadon’s fists shook. He removed his cloak, draping it over Wu. “It’s not his fault.”

Kai whirled around to face him, rage in his eyes. Fire burst to life on his fists,  despite the fact that he wasn’t in any shape for a battle. “ _ What _ did you say?”

“It’s not the boy’s fault!” Garmadon leaped to his feet, looking Kai in the eyes. “He  has lost his way.”

Kai stuttered to form a respond, the words tumbling and falling apart before they could leave his mouth. “ _ Lost his way _ ? He just--” He faltered. “He just--!” A sigh. “Sensei...”

“Lloyd has been lost to darkness. He’s been bitten by the Great Devourer, and now that it is dead, I’m afraid we must search elsewhere for a cure to this affliction.”

Kai paced back and forth, running his hands through his hair, muttering about how he couldn’t believe this was happening and how they could do this without Sensei Wu.

Retrieving his Scythe, Kai limped towards the Bounty’s control panel. “We need to stop him before he hurts anybody else. With that kind of darkness, all of ninjago could be in danger.”

Garmadon flinched as he recalled his don’t voice.

_ Dad... Help me... _

“You’d give up on him so easily? He’s your brother in arms!”

Kai didn’t turn back to face him. “He was bitten by the Great Devourer. An unkillable snake, and he killed it within seconds of being bitten. You heard what he said. He can’t be saved.”

“That wasn’t him speaking!”

Cole stood to his full height. “ Garmadon’s right. We can’t be sure. If there’s a way to save him, and we give up on him like this, we might as well be giving up on the Green Ninja.”

Zane’s brow was set in determination. “I agree. Lloyd’s still in there and he needs us! If my calculations are correct, we should reach Ninjago City around the same time Lloyd does, but only if we go now.” His brows creased together as he stared down at the draped body. “There will be time to mourn later. Right now, we must save Lloyd before he becomes lost to us forever as well.”


End file.
